ANB buys former Coble Building

Amarillo National Bank recently purchased one of the city's most historic structures. Long known as the Coble Building, the structure at 620 S. Taylor St. has been renamed the Historic Federal Building because it was constructed in 1914-16 to house federal offices.

Amarillo National Bank still is considering plans for its latest downtown acquisition, the former Coble Building at 620 S. Taylor St., ANB President Richard Ware said. The bank will do landscape work to connect the building with other nearby ANB properties.

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Amarillo National Bank plans to revive a downtown park to connect its newest and oldest properties.

In a matter of weeks, a landscape contractor should begin improvements on a “pocket park” at the southwest corner of Southeast Sixth Avenue and South Taylor Street, said Cleve Turner of Turner LandArchitecture, the landscape architect hired by the bank to design the park’s new look.

The park lies between ANB’s mirrored Plaza Two office building and its latest acquisition, the former Coble Building to the south, at 620 S. Taylor St.

The Coble — now renamed the Historic Federal Building — is one of downtown Amarillo’s most historic properties, with an appraised value of $1.25 million, according to Potter-Randall Appraisal District. ANB President Richard Ware said the bank closed its purchase of the building several months ago, declining to divulge what the bank paid.

“We just wanted to own it,” Ware said.

“We think it’s the best-looking building in Amarillo. And, by tying it into our other office buildings, we think we’ve got some real unique opportunities there.”

Begun in 1914 and completed in 1916, the federal building initially was built to house the U.S. Post Office and federal court operations, Amarillo Globe-News archives show.

A 1981 Amarillo Historic Buildings Survey said the structure would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places based on its design, materials and workmanship.

Most space in the building is currently unoccupied, Ware said.

FirstCapital Bank of Texas moved operations from the structure in February with the opening of its new branch on Soncy Road.

“We don’t have any plans (for the building) right now,” Ware said. “We just know that that wonderful building is going to attract some quality people that want to be part of it.

“It could be offices. It could be restaurants. We’re flexible on it.”

ANB has leased the park for $1 a year from the city of Amarillo, agreeing to privately fund its refurbishment and maintenance for five years, city Parks and Recreation Director Rod Tweet said.

“They will invest all the development money, designing within the Amarillo downtown urban design standards and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirement — all the things we (the city) would be required to do,” Tweet said.

“They will assume all the maintenance on the property, the mowing, trash, water and electricity. And they can only use it for a park that must be open to the public.”

Turner LandArchitecture’s park design must be approved by the city, Tweet said. The park covers about two-tenths of an acre.

The deal gives the bank an option to automatically renew the park lease for an additional five years at the end of the initial term, Tweet said.

Ware briefed the Amarillo Downtown Urban Design Review Board on the project during the public comments portion of a meeting on Aug. 7, city Planning Director Kelley Shaw said.

If ANB plans to add streetlights and sidewalk amenities, city staff would need to determine if the changes meet city standards that govern renovations of property downtown.

Any variance from those standards would need to be approved by the review board, Shaw said.

The bank intends to landscape the federal building parking lot south of the park to extend the green space, Ware said.

ANB made a similar effort in developing the “Heart Park” that lies directly across Taylor from the pocket park. he said.

The park boasts a large sculpture heart, planting beds, and stone walkways and benches.

It takes up the corner of almost a full block of landscaped parking owned by ANB.

Proposed designs still are being finalized, but “it will be an oasis of grass and trees,” Turner said.

“We’re completely restructuring the parking areas so that there is more landscape,” he said.

“We have been talking with the (Amarillo) Museum of Art about potentially — I stress potentially — placing a piece of public art on the corner at some point in time, if we can find the right piece.”

Some branding would be incorporated because ANB hopes to use the park to help connect its properties to the north, south, east and west and create “a campus feel,” similar to the way the First Baptist Church logo ties its downtown holdings together, Turner said.

Plaza Two and an ANB parking garage take up the full block between Taylor and Polk streets, on the east and west, and Southeast Sixth and Fifth avenues on the south and north.

ANB’s flagship Plaza One tower occupies the full block directly north across Fifth.

ANB also owns what is commonly called the White & Kirk Building, named for the retailer that occupied it decades ago, on the northwest corner of Polk and Sixth, across Polk from the bank parking garage.

The Casa Del Rey lounge once occupied the park tract, but was demolished after the land was donated to the city by Stanley Marsh 3 in 1979, according to Amarillo Globe-Times reports.

■ Built to house the U.S. Post Office, a federal court and juror rooms, judge’s chambers and library, and offices for U.S. attorneys, a court clerk and federal marshals.

■ The courtroom once was as tall as the second and third floors, but the third floor was extended over the space in later renovations.

■ A 1915 safe and a 2-foot-by-6-foot prisoner cell still are on the second floor.

■ The five archways of the original loggia, or veranda, on the front of the building have been enclosed by glass, except for the entrance. A staircase that once extended the length of the veranda was shortened by a long planter added later.

■ The decorative iron torcheres that flanked the original staircase still are in place.

■ The post office was moved to 205 S.E. Fifth Ave., the site of the current federal courthouse, in 1938.

■ The U.S. Soil Conservation Service, the Farm Security Administration, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies moved into the building. The reclamation bureau moved out for eight months in 1953 so the building could be remodeled to upgrade 1914 wiring and outdated plumbing and to tear out post office concrete vaults on the first floor to increase space inside.

■ The building was sold at auction in 1973 to Crowe-Gulde Inc. for a bid of $81,000. It had been vacant for three years. The federal government rejected bids in two previous auctions for not meeting a minimum amount.

■ The Whittenburg family purchased the building for an undisclosed price from Crowe-Gulde in 1978. The building was adapted for use as offices for Whittenburg family businesses interests. It was renamed the Coble Building after family ancestors.